Can-opener



A. w. GUILD.

CAN OPENER. APPLICATION FILED MAY331919.'

. 1,365,486. Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

WITNESSES v INVENTOR mazw/ ,45/f7M.6'u/LD BY 5 ATTORNEYS PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT W. GUILD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAN-OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed. May 3, 1919. Serial No. 294,538.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT W. GUILD, a

' citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, Dorchester, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Can-Opener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a can opener, and aims to more particularly provide a can opener which shall be extremely simple in construction and which shall cut the top from a can without leaving jagged edges around such can and edge of the top.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a can opener in which, contrary to the usual construction, the cutting stroke is upon the downward movement of the opener, and not upon the lifting stroke, which has always rendered the can more liable to slip out of the hand, resulting in injuries to the user.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a can opener which shall be capable of exerting a great leverage upon the can, so that a clean cut, as aforestated, may be made, such cut being located at a point adjacent the sides of a can, and not, as occurs with other openers, where such cut may vary anywhere from one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch away from the side edges of the can, by reason of which a cer tain proportion of the food, particularly if the same is quite fluid, goes to waste, as a small proportion is caught by what is left of the top ofthe can.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a can opener which will work equally well either right-handed or left-handed.

A final object of the invention is to provide a can opener which may be utilized equally well on round, oval, or square cans.

Having these various objects in view, reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings, which illustrates one practical embodiment of my invention, and in which Figure 1 is an edge view of the can opener;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom view.

In these various views, like reference numerals designate similar parts, and the reference numeral 1 indicates a handle, from which extends upwardly a shank 2 terminating in a double-edged, blunt-pointed blade 3 integral therewith.

Adjacent the end of the shank 2 and the base of the blade 3, there is secured, by any suitable means, such as rivets 4:, a shouldered fulcrum 5, which has its upper surface concaved, as indicated at 6. The rear and forward edges of this fulcrum are preferably serrated, as indicated by the reference numeral 7, so as to render them non-slipping. In this connection, I wish it understood, however, that these edges might well be made perfectly plain, so as to save expense, if so desired.

In operation it will now be appreciated that all that is necessary for the operator to do is for him to insert the blade 3 throu h the top of the can at a point adjacent to the side walls and permit the upper surface 6 to rest upon the upper edge of such side walls. The handle 1 may now be rocked, "and it will readily be appreciated that greatleverage will be produced and its force exerted upon the top of the can by virtue of the fact that the cutting stroke is always upon the downward motion of the handle 1. Also, the can opener may well be worked around the can in a clockwise or anti-clockwise di rection.

Having now described my invention, what I desire to claim is:

A can opener including a shank, a blade forming a continuation of said shank, a shoulder fulcrum secured to said blade and extending outwardly therefrom, the upper surface of said fulcrum being convex, the

side edges of said fulcrum being serrated.

ALBERT W. GUILD. 

